Rangers, Kiev battle for Euro survival

Paris: Under-pressure Glasgow Rangers and Dynamo Kiev both need to clinch away victories to avoid exiting the Champions League at the qualifying round stage this week.

Scottish champions Rangers lost 1-0 at Ibrox last week to Malmo and head to Sweden knowing that in 55 years the club has never come back from losing a home leg to win a European tie. But manager Ally McCoist, who took over from Walter Smith in the summer, believes Saturday`s 2-0 league win over St Johnstone could prove the key to overturning the deficit on Wednesday. "I firmly believe that on chances created in the second-half against Malmo that we can turn it around," said McCoist. "Even against St Johnstone we created a fantastic number of goal-scoring opportunities and I believe we will do that over in Malmo. I really believe that if we take them we will win the game." Dynamo`s hopes of making the play-off round -- the next step in the tournament before the lucrative group stage kicks in -- depend on overturning a 2-0 home loss to Russia`s Rubin Kazan.Christian Noboa and Bebras Natcho scored for the Russian side in the first leg, avenging a 3-1 defeat when they last visited Kiev in the 2008/09 group stages. "We`re not going to give up. We`ll prepare for the second leg, and time will tell," said Dynamo coach Yuri Semin. Danish champions Copenhagen, who reached the round of 16 last season, are 1-0 up on Shamrock Rovers ahead of their trip to Dublin while fellow group stage regulars Panathinaikos are in the box seat after a 1-1 draw at Odense. Portuguese giants Benfica take a 2-0 lead to Trabzonspor in Turkey.Christian Noboa and Bebras Natcho scored for the Russian side in the first leg, avenging a 3-1 defeat when they last visited Kiev in the 2008/09 group stages. "We`re not going to give up. We`ll prepare for the second leg, and time will tell," said Dynamo coach Yuri Semin. Danish champions Copenhagen, who reached the round of 16 last season, are 1-0 up on Shamrock Rovers ahead of their trip to Dublin while fellow group stage regulars Panathinaikos are in the box seat after a 1-1 draw at Odense. Portuguese giants Benfica take a 2-0 lead to Trabzonspor in Turkey.